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etx125 on a equatorial mount

I recenty purchased a etx125. Really not THAT much smaller than my lx90 packing wise. All I realy need is a resonable way to track an object. How are the orion mounts for the 125? Deforked the ota is 8 lbs. Any ideas or mounts to look at?Thanks, Brian

I am trying to put together a travel scope that I can tuck into corners of my fifth wheel. Just about every trip dark skies in the desert. The hard case for the etx is almost as big as my lx90. Just trying something different. Simple might be better in this case and nothing is irreversible.

If portability is you're primary concern then you'll probably find the Orion EQ mounts to be a bit cumbersome. Stick with the fork. Having said that, I can't stand the fork mount that came with the ETX-125. I deforked mine and put it on an Orion Atlas mount.

Buying a GEM is easier and a one time solution to an ongoing problem in the ETX mount. I would rather view than be a Meade maintenance man. Which is exactly how I feel right now. I am we'll beyond the frustration point. I am not convinced a fully functional ETX mount is superior or even equal to a GEM for my viewing. I prefer a gear drive and not a slip clutch holding my scope in position. It is interesting that these problems have existed for nearly a decade. Meade never addressed them, and Supercharging the 125 costs $350, more than the unit is worth. I prefer to take the OTA and use it in the GEM. No more Tinker-Toy telescopes.

I love Meade OTA's. Struggle a bit with their mounts though. And so I've de-forked my LX200 10" and LX90 8", mounted them on GEM's and have not once looked back.

I'm planning on de-forking my ETX-125 at the end of this month and mounting it on a side by side saddle with the LX90 on my CGEM. Now I'm not saving any space here, but at least I can view on target all the time.

If size is the issue you may want to look at a CG5. Great mount for visual and a ETX-125 would sit on that just fine!

That is my plan. My ETX-125-PE is seven years old and still going strong, but if the mount ever fails I plan to defork it and use it om my LXD75 mount. It's a great little telescope.

I ended up selling mine and picked up a CG-5 ASGT, I can mount all of my OTA's on this mount.

Jaimo!

Yes, I have that mount as well as a LXD-75 and a CGEM also for my OTA's. They work great and that is what I will be using when or if the ETX mount goes. The Celestron C-6 works great on this mount so I know the ETX-125 will work great too.

I'm about to defork my ETX-125EC and will get the rings, dovetail, etc. from Scopestuff. I'm looking forward to using it on my Ioptron Mini Tower. The alignment & tracking difference between the Mini Tower and the Meade ETX fork mount is like night & day. :bangbangbang: = ETX alignment & tracking. I love the OTA. Anyone need fork parts or a crummy 884 tripod? Clear Skies,

After my RA motor on the ETX fried, I deforked my ETX-125 EC and, with the help of the Scopestuff ETX vixen-style dovetail, mounted it to a Celestron SE 6/8 mount. Much more stable than the original Meade fork arms. GOTO accuracy is good and the whole unit is light and can be picked up in one hand. If anyone has a spare ETX-125 mount with working motors in good shape, I might be interested in purchasing it from you.

I'd consider a CG4. I just recently de-forked my ETX-125 and ran it both on a CG4 and a CGEM dual saddle. CG4 is rated for 20 lbs I believe, so the 125 with Scopestuff rings and vixen saddle was well under that weight. It worked fine.